Students have become an essential form of advertisement for businesses in the Baton Rouge area.
Free T-shirts, food and school supplies are among items given to students to serve as promotion for the companies.
The most noticeable freebies on campus are T-shirts distributed by residential businesses like The Cottages and Aspen Heights.
“College students always love free T-shirts,” said Brittney Hollis, vice president and director of leasing at The Cottages.
The company began its T-shirt campaign in October 2009 when The Cottages’ leasing office opened, Hollis said, and it has been their most important and successful method of advertising since. Students see the shirts, displaying only the business’ name in capital letters, and become curious about The Cottages in passing, she said.
Shirts are given away to the business’ target student audience who wear the shirts and create a brand image for other students, said Lance Porter, advertising design professor.
“It’s perfect advertising,” he said.
Capstone Properties, the company that manages The Cottages, has many other student communities in the U.S., all of which invest in T-shirt advertising, Hollis said.
She said the Baton Rouge branch spends at least $20,000 annually on T-shirts.
Raegen Harbour, nutritional sciences freshman, said she received her free T-shirt when she signed a lease with The Cottages. She said she believes the T-shirt campaigns are good ideas for companies.
“From a business perspective, it’s the right thing to do,” Harbour said.
Erica Moffatt, sales and marketing manager for Aspen Heights, said the new student community’s shirts have been popular among students, noting almost all the T-shirts from the large initial order have been given away.
Aspen Heights T-shirts are American Apparel brand, Moffatt said, and students’ excitement about the style of the shirts develops into word-of-mouth advertisement.
Harbour, a member of Chi Omega sorority, said hers was one of many Greek organizations Aspen Heights has reached out to on campus, providing members with T-shirts personalized with each group’s Greek letters. Aspen Heights also visited many Greek houses during finals week to give students energy drinks, snacks, Scantrons and highlighters.
The personalized T-shirts were produced at the sororities’ and fraternities’ request, Moffatt said, but study baskets were Aspen Heights’ way of catering to students’ needs.
“They were super excited and thought a lot of it for us to deliver these study baskets to them,” Moffatt said.
She said funding for Aspen Heights’ many different advertising ventures is provided by corporate headquarters since the Baton Rouge location is still under construction.
The Cottages and Aspen Heights ask their respective clients how they heard about the company, and Hollis and Moffat both said the majority of students cite the T-shirts.
A T-shirt should not be a person’s deciding factor when deciding where to live, Harbour said.
Lauren Stowe, animal science sophomore, said she has never been offered or seen a T-shirt from either businesses.
John Robertson, agriculture business junior, said he owns two of the shirts and likes them because they mean he has more to wear.
 
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]